Church Bells
by Gotham Siren
Summary: "Walburga's voice threatened her once more and, with another painful swallow, she gently squeezed Rodolphus' hand. She could feel all eyes on her as she hesitated another moment longer. They were counting on her." Bellatrix never wanted to marry Rodolphus. On her wedding day, she struggles with her everyday demons and her intuition.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing, nor do I claim to. I'm simply borrowing the characters for my own amusement.**

 _ **Church Bells**_

 _[August 12_ _th_ _. 1972]_

There she stood, hands wringing together in front of the mirror. Dark eyes took in the reflection before her, studying the white dress that had been passed down to all the women in the Black family since merely the beginning of time. Bellatrix Black was getting married today. She took in a rather sharp breath, repeating to herself as she had done for the thousandth time today that this should be the happiest time of her life.

Only it wasn't.

She didn't really want to marry Rodolphus Lestrange. All through their Hogwarts years, he treated her like the scum under his shoe. And she had reacted to him just the same. Bellatrix, however, didn't want to suffer the same feat as her younger sister, Andromeda. Being blasted from the family tapestry meant failure, and she wasn't about to let her family down. After all, she had a reputation to live up to, didn't she?

The sleeves were a little too long for her. She clung tightly to the ends with her fingertips; the dress itself made her look tinier than she already was. Tradition was tradition, though and that was the one thing that a pure-blood family such as the Blacks were known best for. She would wear this dress, just as her mother did, and just as her sister, Narcissa would.

 _Marriage._

Couldn't she just call off the wedding? She would marry a pure-blood! Just—not this one. Bellatrix had only recently graduated from Hogwarts, (though, she was a few years behind, having to repeat her first couple of years—her family hadn't been proud of that at all). She felt as though she was just throwing her life away marrying so soon. She was only nineteen!

A sudden knock on the door to her dressing area prompted the raven-haired witch to recollect her thoughts. With a deep breath, she stared right back at the dark, sunken eyes that were before her in the mirror.

"Bella, darling, it's time! Everyone is waiting on you!" Called her mother, Druella Black from behind the door.

She was going to _do_ this.

For she was a Black.

And a true Black never backed down from a challenge.

Bellatrix puffed her chest out, sending her reflection a nod. "'m coming! Gimme a sec, would ye?"

"Don't take too much longer. I think poor Rodolphus thinks you are having second thoughts."

The bride scoffed to herself at that comment. If only he knew.

"I'll be right out," she finally commented after a beat.

Druella opened the door a bit, sticking her head in the room to glance at her daughter. "Oh, my. Darling, you look breathtaking. Come along. Your father is waiting," she added with a smile, leaving the door open as she vanished from sight.

Gathering her wits, Bella took one last imploring look at the mirror; she looked _horrid_. This dress was horrid. This day was horrid. Still, though, she gathered the poofy skirt that threatened to trip her whenever she so much as made a baby step and left the room.

 _Merlin help me_ , she thought to herself.

o—o—o

With her hand clutching tightly around her father's arm, she walked down the aisle. And all she could think about was running away. She didn't _want_ this. And the urge to run only multiplied when she saw her _husband_. Rodolphus likely only agreed to his because he would have a play thing. Mark her words, he wouldn't lay a _hand_ on her if it wasn't consensual. She would curse him with every drop of magic she possessed and she wouldn't think twice about it.

The closer she got to him, the more her stomach began to churn. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back now. Bellatrix peered over at her father, who gave her an impossibly wide grin. He was _so_ happy. His first-born was finally getting married. She would continue the pure-blood line, and it seemed that nothing could make him happier. Not even the happiness of his own child.

She acquiesced that this was where she belonged. Her whole life had been spent making her family proud, as she was too afraid to let them down. Not when she had been so horribly abused by Walburga Black for even the smallest deception to the family name—befriending a mudblood. But, in her defense, she was only a tyke and didn't know any better. Never again would she bring failure to her family. Never again would be subject herself to that torture.

So, she just _made_ herself believe that this was the right thing to do, even if every fiber of her being was telling her to run the other way.

Bellatrix's eyes grew impossibly wide as she finally reached Rodolphus. She didn't want to let go of her father. He tugged on his own arm, prompting her to let go. Lestrange held his own arm out in response and, with a forced smile, she accepted it.

This was it.

In just a short amount of time, Bellatrix Natalia Black would be known as Bellatrix Natalia Lestrange.

She clenched her eyes shut as the dark thoughts threatened to consume her.

" _You deserve this, mudblood lover."_

" _You will find yourself lucky if he ever loves you."_

" _Don't you_ ever _shame this family again, or it will be the last thing you ever do, mark my words."_

Her aunt's words from over the years were in the forefront of her mind, just as they always were. She could never truly shake them away. Bella flinched as she could feel the cruciatus curse running through her frame. She swallowed hard, opening her eyes once more and _praying_ that no one had noticed.

Before she knew it, Rodolphus' "I do," rang through her ears.

She glanced down at their entwined fingers, which she didn't even remember taking his hand in the first place.

It was her turn now.

This was her last chance to side with her intuition.

Walburga's voice threatened her once more and, with another painful swallow, she gently squeezed Rodolphus' hand. She could feel all eyes on her as she hesitated another moment longer. They were _counting_ on her.

"I do."

 _ **Fin.**_


End file.
